On September 4th, a breastfeeding rally was held in a Giddings Plaza on the North Side of Chicago in support of Lauren Trost who was harassed for nursing her seven-month-old baby Hank in the same plaza. The month before, Trost was in the plaza helping her sister to open a jewelry store. During the course of the day, Trost sat down to nurse her infant son in the public plaza and was approached by a woman who accused of doing something illegal and indecent by publicly breastfeeding her son.
Approximately fifteen moms nursed their babies simultaneously to show support for Trost and for public breastfeeding at the rally. Surprisingly, there was a great deal of positive media coverage of the rally, both on television and in local newspapers. My father sent me a link to an article in the Chicago Sun Times, which bore the title, “Breastfeeding Moms Rally to Support Hassled Woman.”
I was thrilled to see that the media has chosen to cover public breastfeeding in such a positive light. But what I found disturbing was that even though the media coverage was positive, 90 percent of reader reactions to this article were shockingly rude, hostile, or perverse. Other articles that covered the rally in a positive light also had extremely negative reader reactions. Here is a small sample of these comments (I retyped the posts “as is” with grammatical errors intact):
- Can we at least get an advance warning next time???? Geezzzzzzzz, I want to have a chance to get into my baby costume.
- How come it is never a hot mom in public breast-feeding? It is always some hippie, angry at the world so I won’t shave my armpit liberal that does this kind of thing.
- I just don’t think it’s proper for women to show their breasts out in public unless they’re on the beach
- 7 months old and still on the teet?something tells me she will still be doing it when the child is 14 months as well
- No wants to see these women breastfeeding. Have some discretion and get a life.
- I don’t see why Trost felt she needed to stage a demonstration. If she used discretion and covered her breas ts. I hope Trost knows she opens herself up to perverts and freaks (voyeurism) by just whipping her breas ts out in public.
- Does no one have common sense? Both these women sound like typical spoiled shrews. Breastfeed, but cover up and be discreet. And the other woman should have just moved on. 10 bucks says no one had to take off work to do any of this, just a bunch of bored housewives.
- Is there a waiting list? Or do you have to know someone. My qualifications: 52 years old lactose toleration own my own teeth post-nibbler syndrome (sorry) sleeps through the night also, are there government grants to become part of this program? Ill sit down and suckkkk my thumb.
- Why would you want to do something so intimate with child in public? Are you looking for attention?
- Anyone who is really against it should go there with information on breast pumps and formula alternatives and pass it out to women there. Can we get a sponsor here? I don’t want to see a 20 or 30 (or 40) year old woman’s breasts with her kid sucking on them. I just want to enjoy the neighborhood food and shops. Can’t you feed your kid before you go out? I guess that would be too intimate, private, and simple.
The comments from the readers reflect the real opinions of the general population here in the United States in regards to breastfeeding. Essentially, the public opinion about breastfeeding can be summarized in the following belief statements:
1. Breasts are sexual objects and therefore it is indecent to nurse, whether publicly or privately. Additionally, women who breastfeed publicly should feel ashamed of themselves and deserve the harassment, perverse comments, and other negative attention they receive.
